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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24975121">Love, Stiles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TamerOfPickles/pseuds/TamerOfPickles'>TamerOfPickles</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cheating, Closeted Character, Episode: s05e01 Creatures of the Night, Episode: s05e02 Parasomnia, First Kiss, M/M, Past Child Neglect, Past foster care, Stalking, Steo Day, anonymous correspondence, not stalia friendly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:06:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,413</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24975121</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TamerOfPickles/pseuds/TamerOfPickles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles starts an anonymous with another closeted guy who is moving to his school and is surprised to learn who the guy is in real life.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ethan/Jackson Whittemore, Scott McCall/Kira Yukimura, Stiles Stilinski/Malia Tate, Theo Raeken/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Steo Back2School Day 2020, Steo Day 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thanks to <a href="/users/FandomSlash/"> for inviting me to do Steo Day and for helpful suggestions.

This is my first fic with images. I've tried to make it accessible, but if there is a problem, please leave a comment or send a message to my Tumblr.

This is all that I have planned out right now, but in the event I continue the story, the rating will likely increase to Explicit.</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You’re bringing the Jeep?”</p><p>Stiles sighed internally at Scott being more focused on the full moon and whatever was currently occupying his mind than on what he was saying. Stiles started his “No one gets left behind” speech once again, falling into a now familiar rhythm as he worked his way down the list of their friend group until ending with “Malia's, uh, gonna, you know, she'll figure something out, okay.”</p><p>Stiles grimaced slightly as he hoped she wouldn’t figure it out. Living in different cities might give them a reason to end their relationship, but he suspected she’d stubbornly stick with him like she had every other time he’d tried to break up with her.</p><p>Once he had finished his speech, he tried to resume planning their move to San Francisco next year, but it was clear that nothing productive was going to happen while Scott had something else on his mind. Acquiescing to this reality, Stiles inquired about his friend’s thoughts.</p><p>“You ever hear of regression to the mean?”</p><p>Stiles hadn’t, so Scott explained how Deaton had told him that things tend not to stay the same for too long. Good times and bad times tended to return to average times. What worried Scott was that the opposite could be true: their not so good not so bad middle times this summer had to end as well. Things either were going to become really good or really bad.</p><p>A crack of thunder and Liam’s pleading to be released ended their conversation. As he followed Scott to the tree where they had chained up his beta, Stiles checked his phone even though he knew he would have felt it vibrate if there were a new message. His conversations with a new student he’d met online had given him hope that things would be getting good, but he was starting to have doubts after he had stopped responding.</p><p>Once they had determined that Liam wasn’t a danger to the lives or innocent eyes of the community, they unchained him and piled into the Jeep. As they drove to the hospital to drop him off with his dad, Liam kept asking questions.</p><p>“Is it a party?”</p><p>Annoyed, Stiles answered. “It is not a party.”</p><p>It was Senior Scribe, a tradition where on the night before the first day of school, the senior class broke into the library and put their initials onto the shelves. His prospective friend (he hadn’t shared his real name yet) had been incredulous when Stiles first mentioned it, but he had seemed interested in participating even if he wouldn’t actually start school here until tomorrow.</p><p>Scott interrupted their exchange. “You guys having trouble with your phones?”</p><p>Stiles felt a brief surge of optimism as he considered that the guy might not be able to respond due to the same technical issues, but it was soon squashed as his engine sputtered to a stop.</p><p>“You out of gas?” Liam asked from the backseat.</p><p>“No, it’s electrical,” Stiles replied as he popped the hood and slid out of his seat. He frowned at Scott’s worried reaction to the mess of duct tape holding the poor vehicle together. He pushed out of his mind the idea that it might be a metaphor for something as he ripped off another piece of tape and tried to keep everything together for just a little longer.</p><p>A bolt of lightning struck the road and caused him to jump. A second later the engine roared to life. He didn’t understand it, but he decided it was best to just accept it and move on. He checked his phone as he climbed back into the driver’s seat and confirmed that Scott was right about their phones being out of service.</p><p>As he drove, he considered what his friend might be doing right now. He had said that he and his parents would be arriving by car tonight. Was he sitting in the back seat staring at his phone as he waited for it to find a signal so he could finally send a message that he had been editing over and over again. Stiles had a message of his own sitting in his drafts that he had been reworking this afternoon. Only the fear of looking desperate had kept him from sending it.</p><p>He was brought back to reality as they pulled up to a small crowd that was beginning to disperse after they had cleared a tree from the road. He honked to get Malia’s attention, and rolled down the window. “Sorry we’re late.”</p><p>Malia answered by smashing her face into his. By this time, he had learned to endure it. Once she finally pulled away, Liam squeezed in front of Stiles and said, “I’m sorry, too.” He didn’t get the kiss he wanted, but he did get Stiles one more reminder from Malia’s dad about his ability to use deadly force. As Malia climbed into the backseat next to Liam, Stiles wondered whether he could contrive getting them together. It would make things extremely awkward, but at least Mr. Tate would never threaten to shoot him again.</p><p>The conversation turned to whether Malia had heard anything about passing summer school. Stiles felt bad about it, but he hoped she hadn’t passed. He wouldn’t mind getting a break from boyfriend/girlfriend time during school while they didn’t have classes together. Besides, how could a girl who had missed so many years of school be ready for senior year after only a few months?</p><p>When they arrived at the hospital, Scott escorted Liam upstairs while Malia walked in circles trying to get some reception. Stiles took this moment of freedom to once again read through his old messages.</p><p>
  
</p><p>That message had sent Stiles racing into an obsessive examination of the guy’s social media profile trying to figure out if someone from school had found his secret Twitter account that he used to discuss gay stuff and specifically how extremely willing he’d be for Richard Madden to guard his body</p><p>
 
</p><p>The guy was also anonymous, but Stiles saw that he lived somewhere in Colorado. Relieved that he probably wasn’t someone he knew, Stiles started looking into his interests. Like Stiles, the guy spent a share of his time in the Stucky fandom, which must have been how Stiles had got onto his radar, but Stiles was intrigued by the guy’s attempts to get more people into  Bucky/T’Challa. Looking at his likes revealed he appreciated a diverse set of guys and wasn’t afraid to get horny on his fandom account. Stiles had a separate account for when he wanted to look at dicks. Curious to know more about this guy, Stiles decided to respond.</p><p>
 
</p><p>
 
</p><p>They followed each other after that but didn’t DM again for a couple weeks.</p><p>
 
</p><p>
 
</p><p>Stiles had to put his phone away when Scott stepped out of the elevator. Now that Liam was safely transferred, he was worrying about not hearing anything from Kira. Stiles wished that he could tell Scott that he was also desperate for a message from someone coming to town tonight, but then something Scott said captured his attention.</p><p>“You told her to have fun?”</p><p>Scott was incredulous that Stiles could think this could be an encouragement to sleep around, but Malia backed him up. Stiles briefly considered whether he could just tell Malia to have fun, but then he realized that anything she did with someone else wouldn’t be cheating and therefore not an excuse to break up. Before he could say anything else to Scott, Stiles saw his friend running out the doors to pick up his girlfriend from the traffic jam.</p><p>Stiles glanced at his phone and saw that they still had plenty of time before midnight, so he snuck off to resume reading.</p><p>
 
</p><p>
 
</p><p>
 
</p><p>
 
</p><p>A few hours later, he had received another message.</p><p>
 
</p><p>
 
</p><p>
 
</p><p>A few days later he got another message.</p><p>
 
</p><p>He finally reached the ones he had sent this morning.</p><p>
 
</p><p>After that, there was nothing. He kept telling himself that it was just because of a lack of a signal and not because he was being shitty by preferring pretending he doesn’t know a new friend over coming out to his certainly supportive friends.</p><p>Seeing that midnight was soon approaching Stiles put his phone away, grabbed Malia, and drove to the school to meet up with everyone. While they waited outside, Stiles scanned the crowd, thankful that Scott’s trip to get Kira gave him an excuse to look for the new boy. He began to get worried when most of the seniors had entered the school before he found either of them.</p><p>His fears were validated when Liam came running. After Malia reflexively threw him to the ground, he managed to squeak out, “Scott’s in trouble!”</p><p>They ran through the rain to a pedestrian underpass until they saw the carnage inside. Stiles’s heart stopped as he helplessly saw Scott kneeling before another werewolf who had his claws dug deep in Scott’s torso. He was vaguely aware that Kira and someone he didn't recognize were lying off to the side. He couldn’t take his eyes off Scott long enough to even check whether they were alive or dead.</p><p>Feeling completely helpless as a human, he turned toward the last remaining person that he trusted to save his best friend to see that Liam was already transformed into his wolf form and preparing to launch himself at the attacker. Just before he lept, he stopped. Stiles turned toward the sound of Scott’s shoe slamming onto the ground as he lifted himself up. Kira and the stranger were lifting themselves up just in time to see Scott break the guy’s arm in the process of removing his claws from his chest. It didn’t take much intimidation from Scott to convince the werewolf to run away.</p><p>Once the defeated foe was out of sight, everyone turned toward the stranger.</p><p>“You don’t remember me, do you?”</p><p>Stiles’s heart raced as he recognized that jawline from the picture he had just been looking at. The guy he was crushing on was another werewolf?!</p><p>“I guess I look a little different from the fourth grade.”</p><p>Scott was the first to make the connection. “Theo?”</p><p>“Trust me, I never thought I’d see you guys again. Couple of months ago, I heard of an Alpha in Beacon Hills. When I found out his name was Scott McCall, I just couldn’t believe it. Not just an Alpha, but a True Alpha.”</p><p>“What do you want?”</p><p>“I came back to Beacon Hills, back home with my family, because I wanted to be part of your pack.”</p><p>“I’ll have to think about it.”</p><p>Theo nodded to indicate that he was willing to wait for an answer, gave the slightest smile of acknowledgement to Stiles, and headed back towards the school.</p><p>Stiles was grateful that for once Scott wasn’t his overly trusting self. Learning that his mystery guy was both someone from his past and a werewolf interested in Scott made him suspicious. It was just too much of a coincidence for him to believe that Theo just stumbled onto his secret Twitter account. He had to be trying to seduce him so that he’d sway Scott into accepting him. If he were just an old friend here for a reunion, why go to such desperate measures.</p><p>As they entered the school, Stiles explained his concerns (although omitting the core reasons for suspicion). Luckily, low grade animosity towards people outside his core group was his default response, so nobody would be suspicious of his suspicions.</p><p>“We haven’t seen this kid in years. You don’t find that highly suspicious?”</p><p>“I’m kinda more concerned about the guy who just tried to kill me.”</p><p>Stiles paused his argument to consider this factor. Was he indulging his conspiracy theorist side too much when he contemplated the possibility that Theo staged the attack to gain their trust? He couldn’t rule it out, but it really looked like Scott wasn’t going to make it when they had arrived. Wouldn’t he want to use that moment to save Scott and win a life debt?</p><p>He had to set his ruminations aside when they encountered Lydia and they focused on the reason they were here in the first place. As they waited in the line of seniors he considered which initials to use. “SS” was what most people would expect since he’d been going by Stiles ever since the first day of kindergarten when his teacher took one look at his name and asked if he had a nickname he preferred to be called. However, “MS” was his real initials, and even if his friends probably couldn’t spell his first name, they’d know that those letters were his. In the end, he settled on the latter. He was used to having secrets known only to a select few.</p><p>As he passed the marker to Malia, he was reminded that there was a secret known only to one other person as he saw Theo enter the boys restroom. Claiming that he needed to pee, he excused himself and walked quickly to the door. Theo was washing his hands, and he smiled when he turned to see who had entered. Stiles ignored him while he made sure he could see no feet in the stalls before locking the door.</p><p>Theo raised an eyebrow. “Normally, I’d expect to get dinner first.”</p><p>Stiles ignored the innuendo as he walked up to him with an accusatory finger stretched out in front of him. “How did you know it was me?”</p><p>Theo furrowed his brow as he grabbed some paper towels. “I didn’t until you told me this morning. I couldn’t believe that I had randomly started flirting with a guy I knew from elementary school. I wasn’t sure what to say, and then…. Is the reception always so poor here?”</p><p>“I think that was the storm.” Stiles examined Theo closely before resuming his interrogation. “So you want me to believe that you specifically moved back here for Scott and then just coincidentally started talking with his best friend online.”</p><p>Theo shrugged. “Yeah. I saw a funny reply, checked out the profile to see if I should follow them, and was surprised to find someone from Beacon Hills. It was a bit random that it turned out to be you, but random things happen all the time. What do you think I did?”</p><p>“You found my account...somehow.” Stiles was struggling to put that part together. He had been so careful to keep it separate from his real life. He never used that name anywhere else, and had even created a separate email to sign up for things like that. Putting his hometown was in hindsight a risky choice, but Beacon Hills wasn’t that small.</p><p>“Anyway. You contacted me so that you seduce me so that I’d tell Scott to let you join our pack.”</p><p>“You find me seductive.” It might have been a question, but the way Theo punctuated it by touching his lips with his tongue and the intensity of his gaze made it clear he knew exactly what effect he was having on Stiles.</p><p>Stiles’s brain stopped for a moment as a shiver ran down his spine. Stiles sputtered out “No,” but even if Theo weren’t a werewolf, it would have been the least convincing lie he had ever told.</p><p>Theo said nothing in response. They stood there inches apart, not moving except to breathe. Stiles’s eyes flicked up to Theo’s eyes and down to his lips. Without even realizing he was doing it, Stiles began to lean forward. There was a flicker of surprise in Theo’s eyes that almost caused Stiles to abort, but then he came forward to meet Stiles’s lips.</p><p>As soon as their bodies connected for the first time, Stiles’s entire face erupted with heat and tingling sensations, and he understood for the first time why people kissed each other. They pushed against each other in a slow but erotic dance.</p><p>Just as he began to understand the rhythm, Stiles felt something warm and wet pressing itself between his lips. He let Theo’s tongue inside him and discovered yet another set of new sensations. Their tongues twisted around each other, and Stiles followed Theo as he made a temporary retreat back into his mouth.</p><p>Their hands had grabbed onto each other and began to touch what they had been exploring longingly with their eyes ever since they had exchanged pictures. Stiles felt Theo’s hard muscles moving beneath his shirt.</p><p>Stiles moved his hand lower and found the bulge in Theo’s pants. He was pleased to find Theo was as hard as he himself was. He pressed his hand along its length, both trying to pleasure his partner and to imagine what he had hidden under there. Theo moaned with pleasure at his touch and rolled his hips to fuck into his palm.</p><p>Wanting to feel it directly, Stiles brought his fingers to Theo’s zipper. To his surprise, Theo broke off their kiss and grabbed onto Stiles’s hand to stop him. Stiles could only stare in confusion as Theo stepped back and looked away as he tried to catch his breath.</p><p>“I can’t do this.” He finally met Stiles’s gaze again. “Not if you don’t trust me.” Without waiting for Stiles to respond, he pushed past him, unlocked the door, and disappeared from Stiles’s sight.</p><p>Stiles watched the door for a couple of moments, blinking in confusion, before he glanced down at his bulging pants with a dark spot at the tip. As he reached inside to reposition himself to hopefully be less obvious, he considered using one of the stalls to relieve himself. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done that at school or even in this exact bathroom. However, he didn’t want to return to a bunch of lycanthropes smelling even more like sex without knowing whether they noticed he had been alone in here with Theo. He washed his hands and met back up with his friends. As he gave everyone a ride home, he was waiting for someone to mention something about his state, but if they noticed, they gave no indication that he could sense.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Studying Theo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's the first day of school, and Stiles is determined to learn more about Theo for reasons completely unrelated to him being his secret internet boyfriend.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the first day of school, but Stiles was pulling into the parking lot of the Beacon Hills Sheriff Department. As he pushed through the front doors, the deputy at the front desk looked up from her computer screen and noted, “Your dad is working the evening shift today.”</p>
<p>“Good morning to you, Clark. I just wanted to talk to Parrish before I went to school.”</p>
<p>Satisfied, Clark waved him through and went back to her solitaire game. When Stiles had started hanging around the new guy last year, the rest of the deputies had assumed that the Sheriff’s son had taken him as a big brother figure given the relatively small gap in their ages. Mostly they were happy that the rookie was the one who had to deal with Stiles’s attempts to trick them into breaking the rules.</p>
<p>Parrish saw him coming. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”</p>
<p>Stiles would have responded sarcastically to that, but he needed to keep Parrish in a good, non-suspicious mood. “I’m heading there right after this. I just wanted to talk to you about…” he leaned in close and lowered his voice to a whisper, “... a new werewolf in town.” Parrish pulled out a pad from the bottom of a stack he kept in his drawer. It was where he kept the unofficial supernatural information. “His name is Theo Raeken. R-A-E-K-E-N. He’s seventeen, originally from here, but moved away a few years ago. We need a background check on him to make sure that there isn’t something sinister going on.”</p>
<p>Parrish nodded as he finished his notes. “Got it. I’ll need to get your dad’s authorization though.” He grabbed the phone’s receiver.</p>
<p>Stiles cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. “Do you really want to wake him up on his morning off?”</p>
<p>Parrish paused to consider it before slowly putting the phone back down. “Good point. I’ll get right on it.”</p>
<p>Stiles gave him two finger guns as he walked backwards towards the exit. “Awesome.”</p>
<p>As he passed her desk, Clark quipped, “Did Parrish solve your romantic problems, loverboy?”</p>
<p>Stiles paused for a second before responding, “Maybe he did.” Part of him still hoped that Theo’s messages had been genuine.</p>
<p>Malia was waiting for him when he pulled into the school parking lot. “Where have you been? You’re almost late.”</p>
<p>“I was at the police station running a background check on Theo.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know, Stiles. I mean, I see why you’re worried. He’s really hot. He’s got like great hair, perfect body. You should definitely feel threatened.”</p>
<p>Stiles bit his lip as he remembered the shirtless pic Theo had sent him. Did he have to worry about his girlfriend stealing his boyfriend? Fortunately, Theo had said he was gay. “Thank you. Because I do. Now more than ever.”</p>
<p>“You want me to torture him?”</p>
<p>“No, I don’t want you to torture him.” Why was it always zero to torture or murder with Malia?</p>
<p>“I’m pretty sure I could take him.”</p>
<p>“I have a plan, alright? And there are steps to doing this right.”</p>
<p>“What steps?”</p>
<p>“We get the story. Verify the facts. You find the piece that doesn’t fit and catch him in the act. That’s how you do it.”</p>
<p>Theo waves amicably.</p>
<p>“Why are you so suspicious of this guy?”</p>
<p>“Because I remember Theo from fourth grade, okay? That’s not Theo. There’s something different.”</p>
<p>Stiles struggled to pay attention in class more than usual, but fortunately it was the first day so he didn’t miss much. As he exited his last class before lunch, Stiles stepped into the hallway directly across from the AP Biology classroom. As soon as Scott and Theo came out the door, Stiles called out, “You two, come with me.”</p>
<p>Theo gave Scott a questioning look, but he just shrugged before they followed him to the locker room. Once he had made sure they were alone, Stiles stepped up to Theo and asked, “How did you become a werewolf without a pack?”</p>
<p>Theo took a step back. “Is this an interrogation?”</p>
<p>“I have access to an interrogation room if you’d prefer.”</p>
<p>Scott pulled Stiles a few steps back. “This isn’t an interrogation. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”</p>
<p>Theo sat down onto a bench. “It’s okay. If I want to join your pack, it’s a reasonable thing for you to know.</p>
<p>“I was skating in a neighbor’s empty pool trying to do a handplant. Nobody was home. I’m not that good of a skateboarder, but I guess I was feeling pretty determined because I completely lost track of time. I didn’t even realize it was night until the yard lights came on. Like I said, I wasn’t very good. On my last try, I went down and hit hard. Really hard. I was sitting there at the bottom of the pool, and I realized something. I never heard the board come back down. It came at me fast. I barely had a chance to turn around before it bit me. Right here.” Theo lifted his shirt to expose his unbelievable abs.</p>
<p>Scott was nodding along. “Well, it wasn’t an accident. He wanted to turn you.”</p>
<p>Stiles had to be suspicious enough for the both of them. “Right. So why aren’t you part of his pack then? Why didn’t he come back for you.”</p>
<p>“Because by the time of my first full moon, he was dead.”</p>
<p>“How did you know that?”</p>
<p>“I met another one of his pack a couple of weeks later. He told me that the alpha that bit me was killed by two of his own betas. They were twins.” Scott and Stiles exchanged a look at that detail. “Scott, listen to my pulse. I’m telling the truth.”</p>
<p>Stiles wasn’t having it. “Right. Or you just know how to steady your heart rate while you’re lying your ass off.” And now Stiles was distracted by the thought of Theo’s ass.</p>
<p>Scott shot Stiles a disapproving look. Theo looked hurt. “Why would I lie?”</p>
<p>“Because maybe you’re not who you say you are.”</p>
<p>Theo turned toward Scott. “Okay. In the fourth grade you had an inhaler, I had one too. I remember this day when I ended up in the nurse’s office with an asthma attack. A bad one. I was waiting to be taken to the ER. You were waiting for the principal. You told me what would happen when you go to the ER for asthma. How they give you oxygen, an IV of prednisone. You made it sound easy. Like everything would be okay.”</p>
<p>Scott nodded in recognition.</p>
<p>“I’ve been by myself this whole time. Everybody knows that lone wolves, they don’t make it on their own. I swear I’m that same kid from fourth grade. I was hoping you are too.” The bell rang. “I better not be late for class. You’re not the only ones I need to make a good impression on.”</p>
<p>Scott grabbed his bag. “Don’t give me that look. We have to give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes.”</p>
<p>“Not this time. Alright. I’m right. There’s something off about him. I can feel it.”</p>
<p>“Lydia’s the psychic. Not you.” Scott started walking away.</p>
<p>“Lydia’s not psychic. She’s a banshee, okay? There’s a difference.”</p>
<p>Scott might believe Theo, but Stiles was still not convinced. He knew that the principal’s secretary had lunch during his free period, so he headed there next. He feigned drinking water at the fountain until the hallway was clear before going up to the office’s side door and pressing his ear against it. Once he was sure no one was on the other side, he pulled out the ring of keys he had copied from the janitor’s set after borrowing them last year, unlocked the door, and slipped inside.</p>
<p>As he went down the hallway, he could hear the principal Mr. Thomas talking. Peeking around the corner, he saw that he was talking on the phone. Fortunately, there were no kids waiting to be disciplined at the moment. Stiles waited until the principal’s pacing brought him to stop and look out the window before crouching down and hurrying past his door as quietly as he could.</p>
<p>All he needed to do was use one more key on the ring, and he was inside the student records room. Most schools had gone digital years ago, but Beacon Hills High School suffered too many catastrophes to afford upgrading from the system they bought before Stiles was born. It could print out grades and class schedules but little more. The complete record was physical.</p>
<p>Stiles walked to the file cabinet for the senior class and scrolled down until he found R-S. Stiles smirked at seeing his own thick file, but as he scrolled up the alphabet, he couldn’t find Raeken. He slammed the drawer shut harder than he intended and froze for a second to see if anyone heard him.</p>
<p>As he cracked open the door to see if the coast was clear, he heard the principal hang up the phone. He crept up until he could just see inside the office. On a table against the wall was a box labeled “To File” that contained what Stiles hoped was Theo’s folder. Thinking fast, he waited until Mr. Thomas was looking down before standing up and knocking hard on the open door. “Hey, Mr. Thomas.”</p>
<p>He flinched at the sudden noise before giving Stiles a wary glare. “Stilinski. In trouble already?”</p>
<p>Stiles laughed and sat down in one of the chairs. A quick glance confirmed he almost had what he was looking for. “I’m on my best behavior this year, honest.” His principal was not convinced. “I was wondering what it would take to start an ornithological club.”</p>
<p>The principal raised an eyebrow. “An ornithological club?”</p>
<p>Stiles nodded. “You know, birdwatching.”</p>
<p>“I know what ornithological means. I just wasn’t aware that you were interested in that.”</p>
<p>“Oh, well, I picked it up over the summer, and— Is that a loggerhead shrike?” Stiles jumped to his feet and pointed out the window.</p>
<p>Mr. Thomas hopped out of the chair and turned to the window. “What? Where?”</p>
<p>Stiles grabbed Theo’s file and slid it into his backpack. “In that tree over to the right. It’s… Oh, it just flew away.” The principal turned back towards him and gave him a suspicious look as he sat back down. “So the club?”</p>
<p>“Yes. Janet can give you the form that explains everything once she gets back. Unless there is something else, I need to get back to work.”</p>
<p>“Cool. Thanks.” Stiles nonchalantly walked out of the office and out to the parking lot. On his way he dialed Parrish’s direct line. “How’s the background check going?”</p>
<p>“He’s pretty clean. No arrests, no tickets. There are some family court records from seven years ago, but they’ve been sealed. We won’t be able to get access to that without a court order.”</p>
<p>Stiles frowned. A clean record was good, right? Or did it just mean that Theo hadn’t got caught. “What about his family?”</p>
<p>“His dad has a couple of DUIs. His mom has a few tickets, nothing major. Of course, his brother hasn’t done anything.”</p>
<p>“Brother?”</p>
<p>“Yeah. Asher Raeken. Born seven years ago.” Not long after Theo had left town. “That’s about it. Is there anything else you think I should look into?”</p>
<p>“No. This has been a great help.”</p>
<p>Stiles hung up and started flipping through Theo’s folder. He paused at their second grade class picture. They had had the same teacher that year, and because they were arranged alphabetically, their lockers had been right next to each other. It had been when they first really got to know each other.</p>
<p>Stiles flipped ahead to fourth grade. Everything seemed normal until he got to the point where Theo’s sister had died. He had been out of school for a couple of weeks and saw a counselor after that. There weren’t any notes about those sessions, but Stiles knew from looking at his own file that those weren’t in the files available to all the teachers. A couple months after that, they moved to Colorado where Theo had an expectedly troubled end to the school year.</p>
<p>The next year was odd. It was at a second school in Colorado, and Theo hadn’t started until late September. There was nothing to indicate whether he had been to some other school for the start of the year. Stiles made a mental note that it corresponded to the sealed records Parrish had found.</p>
<p>He went through the rest of the file, but nothing else stood out to him. Theo was a B+/A- student who had played but not excelled at a few sports. Other than a couple of incidents of skateboarding on school property, he had mostly kept himself out of trouble. In fact, his teachers seemed to love him.</p>
<p>Hearing the bell, Stiles stuffed the folder back into his bag and hurried to his next class. His investigations would have to wait until after school. Fortunately, none of his teachers chose to call on him that afternoon because his mind was too busy going through the details he had collected so far trying to find more things he could verify or inconsistencies to confront him with. Once the final bell rang, Stiles hopped out of his seat and was the first student out of his classroom. Rather than going directly to the parking lot, he took a detour to another wing of the school. He got there just in time to see Liam coming out of his classroom.</p>
<p>Stiles pointed to Liam. “You. You’re coming with me.” He started walking without waiting for Liam’s response.</p>
<p>Liam had to rush to catch up. “I was supposed to….”</p>
<p>Stiles dismissed his objection with a wave. “I’m sure this is more important.”</p>
<p>“Oh, okay.” Liam followed in silence until they got into the Jeep but didn’t start driving. “What’s so important?”</p>
<p>Stiles didn’t take his eyes off of the stream of students exiting the school to answer. “We’re investigating Theo.”</p>
<p>Liam nodded for a second before another question popped into his head. “Where’s Scott?”</p>
<p>“Sometimes Scott needs people to look out for him.” He saw Theo walk out the doors and to a blue pickup. Stiles started the engine and waited until a few cars were between him and Theo before pulling out of his parking place.</p>
<p>Stiles knew that tailing someone in such a distinctive vehicle was a challenge, so he was cautious about getting too close. Fortunately, Theo’s truck was distinctive in its own way, so he didn’t have trouble finding it again whenever he went out of sight. Stiles had no way of knowing whether Theo had noticed them, but he didn’t make any attempt to throw them off his trail.</p>
<p>Soon enough, he was pulling into the driveway of a decent-sized house in one of the nicer neighborhoods of Beacon Hills. Stiles pulled over to give Theo time to get into the garage and close the door behind him before making a pass of the house. Stiles noted that the road rose as it curved around and came behind the house, so he continued up there and parked in a place that gave them a good view of the rear of the house. Theo soon appeared in one of the second floor windows and sat down at a computer desk.</p>
<p>“Keep an eye on him. I need to make a phone call.” While Stiles was selecting a number from his contacts, Liam moved to the backseat so he didn’t have to look across Stiles while watching Theo.</p>
<p>The phone rang a few times before Ethan picked up. “Stiles?” He sounded tired and a bit disoriented.</p>
<p>“Hey, Ethan. I was hoping you could answer a quick question for me.”</p>
<p>In the background, he heard a familiar voice. “Tell him that he can screw himself and call back in the morning.”</p>
<p>“Is that Jackson? Are you in London? What time is it there?”</p>
<p>He heard some movement and then a door being closed. “Yes, that was Jackson, and yes, I’m in London where it is…” Ethan paused to glance at his phone, “... almost midnight.”</p>
<p>“Shit. I didn’t know it would be so late for you.” Something clicked inside Stiles’s head. “Wait, are you two…?”</p>
<p>Ethan yawned. “Yeah, Danny suggested he help me get settled here, and we kinda hit it off.”</p>
<p>“Oh, wow. Cool. Good for you.” Stiles knew that he was being a bit awkward, but he was too distracted by thoughts about what it would have been like to hook up with Jackson. They were particularly vivid because he had through no choice of his own gotten a very close look at Jackson’s body once.</p>
<p>Ethan sighed. “You had a question?”</p>
<p>“Right. Sorry. There’s a werewolf claiming to have been bit by your old alpha.” He gave a quick summary of Theo’s story. “Does that sound plausible to you?”</p>
<p>Ethan paused for a moment to think. “I suppose it could be true. He was the type to bite whomever he pleased and then waiting until after he knew they would survive to introduce them to the pack.” Even though he tried to hide it, his discomfort with revisiting his darkest moment came through the line.</p>
<p>Stiles frowned. He’d hoped Ethan would either know about a new beta or deny his former alpha would have acted like that. Plausible just prolonged his uncertainty. “Hmm. Thanks for answering. I’ll let you get back to sleep.”</p>
<p>“Night.” Ethan ended the call before Stiles could say “Good night” back to him.</p>
<p>He turned his attention back to Liam. “Anything interesting?”</p>
<p>Liam shrugged. “He’s just playing some computer game, but we’re too far for me to see which one.”</p>
<p>Stiles grabbed a pair of binoculars out of the glove compartment and took a look for himself. Theo’s head partially blocked the screen, but he could see enough to recognize The Sims. The green plumbob was floating above a Sim that looked impressively like Theo. While Stiles continued to watch, Theo invited another Sim to his place. Stiles’s breath stopped for a moment as he recognized himself and saw himself give Theo a kiss as they greeted each other.</p>
<p>“You’ve had binoculars this whole time? Let me see.” Liam had them out of Stiles’s hands as soon as he took them down from his eyes. “It’s just The Sims. That doesn’t seem that nefarious.”</p>
<p>Stiles gave him a dubious glance. “Have you seen what people on YouTube do with it?”</p>
<p>Liam chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. He did a good job at making his guy look like him. And that one looks a lot like… Huh.”</p>
<p>Stiles tried to play it cool. “What?”</p>
<p>“It’s just something from a new expansion that I hadn’t seen before.” Stiles wished he had a werewolf ability to detect lies. He also wished that he could grab the binoculars and see what was going on, but he was worried about looking too worried. “Why exactly are you suspicious of Theo?”</p>
<p>“His story is just too … convenient. It’s too dangerous to assume it’s just a coincidence that he shows up right when someone attacks Scott and that his story can’t be verified.”</p>
<p>Liam brought the binoculars down to his lap and thought about that for a while before asking, “What about the danger of him being a good guy and getting pushed away?”</p>
<p>Stiles frowned. He had such high hopes for Theo yesterday before he learned that he was Theo. Did he want to risk giving up those dreams? After a moment, his face hardened. He was okay with giving up those moments until he was away at college.</p>
<p>The two of them settled in for the next couple of hours taking turns watching Theo. After Liam gave him back his binoculars, Stiles took another look at Theo’s screen, but whatever Liam had seen had passed. He put them back into his glove compartment under the pretense of not wanting to look suspicious to anyone who went by, but really he wanted to make sure that Liam wouldn’t see the worst that Stiles could imagine if he hadn’t already.</p>
<p>Eventually, Theo shut down his computer and left his room. Stiles already had his engine running when he saw Theo’s truck pull out of his driveway. Stiles pulled a quick U-turn and pursued him once again. It didn’t take long for Stiles to recognize that they were headed towards the woods, which he interpreted as villainous. The woods were where Peter had been lurking when he attacked Scott. He shut off his lights before turning off the road to follow Theo into the forest. There was enough moonlight in the clear sky to keep from driving off the trail.</p>
<p>As they slowly approached where Theo had parked, they saw him take a package out of his truck and walk with purpose through the trees. “I told you he was up to something.”</p>
<p>Liam sighed. “We just spent three hours watching this dude play video games in his bedroom. He better be out here covering up a mass murder.”</p>
<p>“Let’s find out.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t hard to follow his trail he had left in the dirt still soft and wet from the previous night’s storm. Because he hadn’t needed to use Liam as a bloodhound, he got twenty feet ahead of him before realizing that the boy had stopped. He turned to see him looking at his phone.</p>
<p>“What? What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>Liam turned the screen towards Stiles. “I was supposed to meet Mason at the school gym.”</p>
<p>“Okay, why didn’t you just tell him?”</p>
<p>“Tell him what?”</p>
<p>Stiles shrugged exaggeratedly. This shouldn’t be that complicated, and it was taking up valuable stalking time. “Anything.”</p>
<p>“I can’t just tell him anything.”</p>
<p>“Why not?”</p>
<p>“Because I haven’t told him anything.”</p>
<p>The poor boy looked so sad that Stiles purposefully calmed himself before responding. “Still? We said it was okay.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I know, but it’s not that easy. It’s a lot to accept.”</p>
<p>“He watched my dad blow up a berserker with a landmine. I think the groundwork’s been pretty thoroughly laid for acceptance. Scott and I have been through this. Okay? More than once. It’s always better when they know.”</p>
<p>“But what if he freaks out? What if he doesn’t want to talk to me? What if he tries to stab me with something silver?”</p>
<p>“He’ll probably just be happy to know that he isn’t going crazy. Besides, he’s gay. Didn’t he go through having a secret that he was worried to tell you?”</p>
<p>Liam chuckled. “We met when he tried to hit on my while I was at Pride with my dads.”</p>
<p>“Oh, wow. With other people then.”</p>
<p>Liam nodded. “I suppose you might be right.”</p>
<p>With that crisis dealt with, Stiles waved him forward and resumed tracking Theo. They caught up to him standing on a bridge. Stiles grabbed Liam and pulled him behind a tree before Theo could see them. “Try to get his scent. Get anything.”</p>
<p>“Soap. It’s nice. It smells good.”</p>
<p>“I already know he smells good.” Fuck. Did he say that aloud? Stiles pressed on as if nothing had happened. “Not his soap, his emotional state. Chemosignals, remember?”</p>
<p>“Oh, yeah. Okay. He’s sad.”</p>
<p>“He’s sad?” This was getting more emo than evil.</p>
<p>“Well, not just sad. It’s more like grief.”</p>
<p>“Grief?” Before Liam could answer, Theo took a lily out of the package he had been carrying and dropped it into the creek. Stiles finally recognized where they were. “Oh my God. Go! We have to go.”</p>
<p>“What? Why?”</p>
<p>“Right now. Just go.” Stiles grabbed Liam’s shirt to get him to move faster. “That’s the bridge where they found his sister.”</p>
<p>“What sister?”</p>
<p>“The one who got lost and died from exposure. He’s leaving a flower for her.”</p>
<p>“That doesn’t sound evil.”</p>
<p>“I know.”</p>
<p>Stiles was just thinking about how this disaster of an evening couldn’t get any worse when he saw that Theo had somehow run ahead of them and climbed up into a tree. As he dropped to the ground, Stiles couldn’t help but be a little turned on by his flair for the dramatic. “What are you guys doing?”</p>
<p>Liam growled and stepped in front of Stiles, but he stopped his attack when Stiles grabbed his shoulder.</p>
<p>Theo raised his hands. “Woah. Why do I get the feeling this kid’s tougher than he looks?”</p>
<p>Stiles stepped from behind Liam but didn’t let go of him. “Only when we let him off his leash.”</p>
<p>“Stiles, we were in Little League together. Why are you so suspicious of me?”</p>
<p>“Because of the coincidences. Because your story wasn’t something Ethan could corroborate or contradict.”</p>
<p>Theo looked like he had just been slapped. “You trust the guy who killed his own pack but not me?”</p>
<p>Stiles realized Theo had a point, and while he felt bad about that, he was too stubborn to let it stop him. “Then there’s the sealed court records and unexplained gap in your schooling after you left town.”</p>
<p>Theo gasped at the revelation that Stiles knew about that and took several moments to regain his composure enough to talk. “I’m only telling you this because I know you guys have had a rough few years and have reasons to be wary. After my sister died, things got bad for my family. Mom and Dad tried to run away from the memories by moving somewhere else, but it wasn’t enough. Instead, they drank more. It got so bad that CPS took me away a few times. But then Mom found out she was pregnant, and it motivated them to get their lives together. It was rocky for a while, but things are good now.”</p>
<p>Fuck. Stiles was hitting all of Theo’s wounds tonight.</p>
<p>“You know, Stiles, I came back here for Scott, but I also came back for you. Someone like you. Someone who is willing to walk into the woods in the middle of the night to protect his friends. I don’t have anyone like that, but Scott does. You all do. I know I’m in the right place. I’m meant to be here. I’m meant to be part of this pack.” Without waiting for Stiles to respond, he turned toward where he had parked and walked quickly away.</p>
<p>Stiles took a few steps after him. “Theo, I…” He stopped. What could he say after that? Theo didn’t seem to want to talk to him right now.</p>
<p>From behind him, Liam said. “That was awkward.”</p>
<p>Stiles sighed. “Yeah. Sorry about that. Let’s get you back to school so you can talk to Mason.”</p>
<p>Just when Stiles thought it couldn’t get any worse, he returned to his Jeep to find Scott leaning against the driver’s door.</p>
<p>“Find anything?”</p>
<p>Stiles was not in a mood for talking about it. “Nope.”</p>
<p>“It was the bridge where his sister died, wasn’t it?”</p>
<p>“Yes, it was. Very embarrassing. So we are going to leave now.” Scott moved to let Stiles get inside his vehicle. He tried to start the engine, but it just sputtered. “Son of a… Liam, do me a favor: get in the car and turn the ignition when I say.” As he climbed out of his seat and walked to the hood, he noted how depressing it was that Liam was getting good at helping with this.</p>
<p>Scott still wanted to talk. “Stiles?”</p>
<p>“Be with you in a sec. Try it.” The engine still refused to start.</p>
<p>“Stiles.”<br/>“Yes. Okay, we followed him out here. What do you want me to say? That I’m a stalker, huh? That I’m crazy, totally paranoid? None of this is new information.”</p>
<p>“Now, you’re gonna try to at least give him the benefit of the doubt?”</p>
<p>“I give people the benefit of the doubt. I’ve given a lot of benefit to a lot of people.”</p>
<p>“Like Derek? Kira? Liam?”</p>
<p>“I was right about Peter. Try it again.”  It still wouldn’t start and rescue him from this conversation. “You know. I bet you still think that there’s something about him that can be saved.”</p>
<p>“Maybe.”</p>
<p>“Try it again.” Still nothing.</p>
<p>“Why can’t you trust anyone anymore?”</p>
<p>Stiles couldn’t take any more. He yelled, “Because you trust everyone!” He slammed his fist against the engine block and immediately regretted it.</p>
<p>“Are you okay?”</p>
<p>“I’m fine.” He could keep his stubbornness even if he had lost his dignity.</p>
<p>“You could have broken it.”</p>
<p>“It’s not broken.”</p>
<p>“Let me see it.”</p>
<p>“I’m fine.” This time he seemed less than convinced.</p>
<p>“Let me see it.” Scott took his hand and immediately Stiles felt the pain start to fade. On top of the pleasure of the absent pain, he enjoyed having another boy hold his hand even if it was just as a friend. He was tempted to let go of his instincts and beg Theo for mercy. Even if he ended up betraying them, it might be worth it just to spend some time with him like this.</p>
<p>The moment ended when Liam tried the engine once more and finally got it to start. Stiles pulled his hand from Scott’s. “It’s getting late. I should take Liam back.”</p>
<p>Scott nodded. “Okay. We’ll talk tomorrow.”</p>
<p>As Liam slid into the passenger’s seat and he took his place, Stiles replied over his shoulder. “Yeah, tomorrow.”</p>
<p>They drove in silence for a few minutes before Liam spoke up. “I used to think you were horny all the time, but it was just because you were around Scott.”</p>
<p>Stiles was too tired to lie about it. “Yeah.”</p>
<p>“You know I won’t say anything to him about it.”</p>
<p>“Thanks.”</p>
<p>“It makes the Theo thing more complicated.”</p>
<p>“Yep.”</p>
<p>“I think he likes you, too, if that helps.”</p>
<p>Stiles had been pretty sure about that after their kiss, but it was nice to hear it confirmed by someone else. “It does a little.”</p>
<p>They pulled into the school parking lot to see Mason waiting in the dark. “He looks mad. I better go apologize. Good luck.”</p>
<p>Stiles waved. “Good luck with Mason, too. I’m sure he’ll be fine with the truth.” Once Liam was out the door, Stiles finally headed home. He collapsed onto his bed and turned to see the murderboard with Theo’s name in the center.</p>
<p>While he was trying to decide whether to add the day’s revelations, his dad popped his head into the bedroom. “Usually we wait until they do something wrong before we declare them guilty.”</p>
<p>“What if they’ve already done something and you just don’t know it yet.”</p>
<p>“Accusations require proof, and proof always trumps instinct. It has to.”</p>
<p>“I know, Dad.”</p>
<p>“Let it go, Stiles. Get some sleep.”</p>
<p>Stiles looked at his dad and finally realized something. “Hey, Dad. I got it, that something different, I know what it is.”</p>
<p>“Okay.”</p>
<p>“You’re not wearing your wedding ring anymore.”</p>
<p>His dad was surprised by his observation. “Your instinct says that this kid’s guilty?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Even after everything. He still felt Theo was hiding something.</p>
<p>“Then all you gotta do is wait. If they’re really guilty, eventually they make a mistake. They always make a mistake. But until you have proof, you have to take it easy.”</p>
<p>If waiting would prevent another disaster like tonight, it probably was a good idea. “Okay, Dad. Thanks for the advice. Good night.”</p>
<p>“Good night, son.”</p>
<p>After he had finished getting ready for bed, he took one last look at his phone and saw he had a text from Liam. “I showed Mason I’m a werewolf, and he took it well. Maybe a little too excited, but excited is better than stabbing.” Stiles sent a quick reply. “Congratulations! I told you it would be okay.”</p>
<p>Then he opened up Twitter and sent Theo a message. “Sorry about tonight. Didn’t mean to bring up so many bad memories.” The app indicated that Theo had read it almost immediately, but even after half an hour of scrolling through his feed, Stiles still hadn’t gotten a response. He hadn’t really expected one. He was trying to keep the line of communication open. Until he knew which one Theo was, he would keep his potential boyfriend close and his enemy closer.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6E656BB05279FF9F">The playlist Stiles linked to.</a>
</p></blockquote></div></div>
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